The following is from an e-mail to me from Karen Eck of the OASG group at www.ottawaasg.com. Karen, who has seen the Quebec TV reports, gave permission to post it here.

Karen says: "Obviously we don't know exactly what happened, but a Radio-Canada TV report indicates that her boyfriend and friend did not know that she was allergic, and that epinephrine was not administered until the paramedics arrived.

The report says Christina was asthmatic, and thought she was having an asthma attack. She collapsed, and while her friend did CPR, her boyfriend called the ambulance. It was only after the paramedics arrived and they were looking through her things that they discovered the EpiPen."

This link includes a TV report.Click on the link with the tiny TV icon near the bottom.

Also, this from Karen's post at the OASG site. I thought it was excellent and she agreed we could post at AL's site:

The more I think about it, the more I think it's important to realize that this death likely could have been prevented:

1. If the girl's friends (including her boyfriend) had known that she was severely allergic to peanuts, they may well have refrained from consuming peanuts and peanut butter around her.

2. I like to think her boyfriend would have brushed his teeth and washed up after eating peanut butter -- and before kissing her. He may even have avoided her allergen altogether. (And keep in mind as well that the kiss was likely not a kiss on the cheek - people need to realize this.)

3. If her friends had known she had an EpiPen (which she did), they could have administered it long before the paramedics arrived. From what the Radio-Canada TV report said, during the interview with the girl's friend, she didn't get epinephrine until the paramedics arrived, since the friends didn't know what was going on. So to my mind, treatment was delayed. If her friends had been aware and known that she had allergies and an EpiPen, I'm sure they would have given her the EpiPen. They performed CPR, so obviously they were doing what they could to help her.

I am not blaming the victim in any way. I'm saying that we need to remember that there are preventive measures that can be taken with regards to our own FA children, both now and especially when they start approaching the teen years.

I firmly believe that our kids really have to be part of the team that keeps them safe. I also think they will have to become the "team leader" at some point during their teens. But obviously they need a lot of support and education to be able to take on this role. All the other team members have to be properly educated as well, and prepared to deal with an emergency as quickly as possible.

Will all this be easy to accomplish? Likely not. Must it be done? Absolutely.

2. I like to think her boyfriend would have brushed his teeth and washed up after eating peanut butter -- and before kissing her. He may even have avoided her allergen altogether. (And keep in mind as well that the kiss was likely not a kiss on the cheek - people need to realize this.)

I don't think that teeth brushing and washing up = safety in some cases.

"In the September 2001 Allergy, Brunello Wüthrich of the University Hospital in Zurich reported that a physician allergic to peanuts developed puffy lips and itchiness after a girlfriend's smooch. Knowing of her sweetie's hypersensitivity, the woman—who had eaten a few peanuts 2 hours earlier—had brushed her teeth, rinsed her mouth, and chewed some gum before the kiss."

The problem with the whole allergy and contact issue is people just rely on "common sense" since I don't think this is something that is generally discussed during medical appointments. We need to have clear medical guidelines on this. Someone I know had a reaction after kissing----her bf had eaten something hours before and he wasn't sure about the ingredients. The reaction wasn't severe---her lips just swelled--but still it is kind of scary. He was supposed to be avoiding nuts, but he ate other things she was allergic to so after that reaction he would spend 10 minutes brushing his teeth before kissing her. But would that have been enough if he had accidentally eaten something with nuts? I don't think so based on that article I posted.

Thanks Gwen for clarifying the whole progression of the reaction. I had assumed that she had taken her epi right away, but it seems that wasn't the case.

Just fyi, on the teeth brushing. Allergic Living did a story on the kissing issue in its Spring 2005 issue. The article quoted extensively from the University of Calif. at Davis study that Lisa cites. What the writer found in speaking to a few leading allergists is that, if avoidance by the partner isn't 100% possible, teeth-brushing and hand-washing are definitely advised.

Harder, though, seemed to be the question of how long to wait between eating the allergenic protein and kissing. The writer summed up by saying, "There are no firm guidelines yet on how long to wait to kiss after brushing. You'll want to consult your allergist about your own case." Like so much with allergy, the answer would appear to depend on the allergic individual.

If people here would like, we could ask this question in "Ask the Allergists" (in the Spring issue of Allergic Living). See if either Dr. Waserman or Dr. Watson have more to say on the topic. Would that be helpful?

My heart goes out the family of the girl and her boyfriend. My 16-yr old peanut-allergic son and I had a discussion about this topic when the magazine article came out. I haven't yet shown him the newspaper article of this girl's death but I know I have to do it to help him stay safe. I just feel sad to show him what can happen.

Harder, though, seemed to be the question of how long to wait between eating the allergenic protein and kissing. The writer summed up by saying, "There are no firm guidelines yet on how long to wait to kiss after brushing. You'll want to consult your allergist about your own case." Like so much with allergy, the answer would appear to depend on the allergic individual.

If people here would like, we could ask this question in "Ask the Allergists" (in the Spring issue of Allergic Living). See if either Dr. Waserman or Dr. Watson have more to say on the topic. Would that be helpful?

Kissing is not my only concern.

I have reacted from my husband's sweat. Brushing his teeth wouldn't help with that. I believe semen would also be a risk.

Our *personal rule* is he occasionally eats peanuts/sesame seeds when he is away on business. But, needs at least 48 hours after digesting before returning home to me.

If your experts can test body fluids and give us an answer, I would appreciate it. We picked 48 hours because 24 wasn't long enough for him. I haven't had any problems since we switched to the 48 hour rule.

48 hours, that seems short for me... I used to ask close to 2 weeks from my ex (kind of convinced him to give it up ... at one point at least...)

It's sad to see what happened... it probably got to me a little bit more because in the last few weeks, I've come 2 feet from fish more than in the past 5 years all added up ... and add a reaction on top of that...

That _Allergic Living_ magazine article on kissing was a good one--especially because it highlights a risk that isn't obvious.

According to a source I read, reactions have been reported in the medical literature after six hours of eating the allergen. But that doesn't mean that very sensitive people would be safe after six hours---I'd feel better about the figures if Anna Marie were in the study!

I wonder whether new saliva poses a risk as well as trace amounts of protein left in the mouth. (i.e. With the kind of reaction Anna Marie is talking about the protein is secreted in bodily fluids after being digested.) Surely there would be a way to measure the amount of protein in bodily fluids? The question is whether this has been done. This does sound like a good Ask the Allergist question.

Last edited by Helen on Fri Mar 30, 2007 12:38 am, edited 1 time in total.

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